Game Recaps

Almira/Coulee- Hartline Warriors senior Derek Isaak is set to eclipse 2,300 points for his career after averaging 28 point per game this season. (Dan Pelle)

Senior Isaak does it all for ACH Warriors

February 29, 2012By Mike Vlahovich, Correspondent

State 2B/1B basketball

Thursday’s opening-round games at Spokane Arena

2B boys

Game 1: Colfax vs.

La Conner, 3:45 p.m.

G2: Toutle Lake vs. Dayton, 5:30

G3: Wahkiakum vs.

Adna, 7:15

G4: Lake Roosevelt vs. Northwest Christian, 9

1B boys

G1: Valley Christian vs. Sunnyside Christian, 9 a.m.

G2: Neah Bay vs. Mt. Rainier Lutheran, 10:30

G3: Almira/Coulee- Hartline vs. Moses Lake Christian, 12:15 p.m.

G4: Muckleshoot Tribal vs. King’s Way Christian, 2

Scott Isaak, Almira/Coulee- Hartline basketball coach, third-generation farmer and raconteur, likes to tell this story about his then-fourth-grade son, Derek.

“He eventually wandered up to this thing called Hoopfest,” Scott said. “He was playing in a coed league with his niece. It was 98 and 96 degrees with no shade. They get to the semifinals and lo and behold we look at this team with the local name, ‘Stockton.’ ”

The team featured John Stockton’s daughter Lindsay, who currently is in Tacoma with State 4A participant Gonzaga Prep.

Derek was tossing in shots from everywhere, and after they’d played each other again in the finals, John came up to talk to Derek.

“He has no freaking idea who John is,” Scott said. “I tell him, ‘Do you know who that was?’ He gets tears in his eyes, runs over and shakes John’s hand. Looking back I (realize) Derek was a pretty good ballplayer, but had no social recognition.”

Maybe, like John Stockton, he isn’t particularly outgoing. Likely it’s because Derek, now a senior at ACH, is focused on what lies ahead.

During a preseason interview last fall previewing football, well prior to helping ACH reach the state 8-man football final, he professed his desire to play basketball in college.

Last Friday, Isaak scored 34 points as the Warriors won their way into his fourth State 1B tournament, beginning Thursday at the Spokane Arena. He revealed then that he’s being wooed by Division II schools Seattle Pacific, Northwest Nazarene and Western Washington.

Not surprisingly, he hopes to play at the latter for head coach Brad Jackson, his uncle and ex-Washington State standout.

What made the Almira/Coulee-Hartline sharpshooter into one of the most prolific scorers in 1B history?

“Thousands and thousands of shots,” Scott said. “He can put it on the deck, defend, pass, is a pure shooter and has an incredible work ethic off the court.”

Guard him straight up, as Colton discovered in the regional final, and he goes by you for a layup or burns you with a sweet step-back jumper. Lay off and he’ll kill you from beyond the arc.

Derek has scored 634 points this year at a 28.0 per game clip. His dad said he will surpass 2,300 points for his career, and already holds the career tournament scoring record with 281 points. He’s also one of four Eastern Washington players nominated for the McDonald’s All-American team, Scott said.

What more would you expect from the grandson of a coach – Roland Halle, his mother Jeannie’s dad, is a member of the University of Washington Hall of Fame and played on the Huskies’ 1953 NCAA basketball Final Four team – the son of a coach and the nephew of a coach.